Power and Worship

There is something I’ve never been able to reconcile about the way people talk about God.

In many traditions, God is described as infinite - the source of everything, beyond anything human beings could fully comprehend.

And yet, at the same time, people are often told that what matters most is belief. That God must be affirmed, defended, and honored in very specific ways.

That raises a quiet question for me.

If something is truly infinite, what could it possibly need from us?

Would it need to be defended? Would it need to be praised in order to remain what it is? Would truth become less true if someone failed to acknowledge it?

Power that is real does not need to demand recognition. Truth that is real does not need to be enforced.

So when belief becomes something that must be protected through pressure, anger, or exclusion, it starts to feel like the object being defended is no longer God.

It starts to feel like a human structure built around God.

That is where things seem to go wrong.

Because what begins as reverence can become loyalty. What begins as humility can become certainty. And what begins as faith can become a demand.

Maybe the measure of belief is not how intensely it is declared.

Maybe it is what kind of person it produces.

Because if a belief brings people closer to compassion, humility, and understanding, that tells us something. And if it requires fear, hostility, or constant defense, that tells us something too.

Previous in the series:
If There Were a God

Next in the series:
Belief and Fear

Series index:
A Map of the Questions for Civilization -- Table of Contents